Kingsley: Water Corp says it will refund insurance excess amounts after flooding

THE Water Corporation says it will refund insurance excess amounts for homeowners and reinstate local government assets damaged by flooding in Kingsley.

Perth regional manager Garth Walter apologised to residents affected by the burst water main that caused flooding and created a sinkhole on Kingsley Drive on Sunday.

“Our customer service team is in contact with the owner of the property that received internal flood damage and the owner of a vehicle that was damaged to assist them with their insurance claims,” he said.

“The Water Corporation will refund any insurance excess amounts and we will also consider any uninsured losses.

“We are also providing support to the tenant of the property that was flooded inside.

“This includes arranging alternative accommodation and helping them remove and store their belongings.

“If a person impacted by a broken water main does not have insurance cover, we provide reasonable compensation for the damage caused and consider any other uninsured losses.”

Mr Walter said the utility would reinstate local government assets such as roads or verges damaged by a broken water main.

“If local government assets are damaged that we can’t repair, the local government agency will carry out the repairs and we reimburse them for the cost,” he said.

Mr Walter said they could not estimate how much water escaped on Sunday before crews turned off the broken main and the investigation into the cause was ongoing.

“We thank the member of the community who reported this to us and encourage others to be vigilant and report faults,” he said.

“We manage more than 14,000km of water mains across the Perth metropolitan area and encourage anyone who sees a leak to contact our 24 hour Faults, Emergency and Security line on 13 13 75 immediately.

“We will then send a crew to the site within two hours to assess the leak or break and prioritise it for repair.

“This type of event is unusual and Perth’s water supply scheme is in good condition.

“Perth’s water supply scheme has a low rate of leaks and breaks when compared to similar sized water utilities across the Australia – the fourth lowest when compared to 14 similar sized water utilities (2015-16).”